[duncan]

Federica Mingolla on Via Attraverso il Pesce / Weg durch den Fisch / The Fish. The Marmolada looking splendid. They seem to have solved the issue of what to do if you miss the cable car down!

[jfdm]

What an amazing climbing achievement.
Great job Pete.

[duncan]

Amazing effort, he looks utterly wasted at the end.

Film looks promising despite the difficulties of getting material of a solo climber in a hurry. AK pronouncing on free-climbing is a bit incongruous and he seems to imply rope-soloing El Cap in a day is as impressive as free-soloing it. I wonder why he would want people to think that?!

[jwi]

Slightly weird



Ganesha, 8c, FFA

[Danny]

Slightly weird



Ganesha, 8c, FFA

The cluster-fuck of ropes dangling all over the place had me slightly worried for some reason.

[fatboySlimfast]

Slightly weird



Ganesha, 8c, FFA

The cluster-fuck of ropes dangling all over the place had me slightly worried for some reason.

The frigged gri gri would be more concerning....

[cheque]

He really oversells that "dyno" at around 2:35.

[cheque]

He really oversells that "dyno" at around 2:35.

[Yossarian]

https://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/reach---a-film-by-david-petts/606068

Enjoying this - I think it's up on Epic TV as a temporary preview.

Bizarre that literally the first day in years I have the southern sandstone guidebook out - plotting a trip tomorrow - a film comes out with some of the best lines being cruised in style.

[jfdm]

https://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/reach---a-film-by-david-petts/606068

Enjoying this - I think it's up on Epic TV as a temporary preview.

Bizarre that literally the first day in years I have the southern sandstone guidebook out - plotting a trip tomorrow - a film comes out with some of the best lines being cruised in style.

Thanks Yossarian for Reach film link.
The new gold standard for climbing/bouldering movies.
Matt C - he sets at the climbing wall, what a climbing machine.
Gaia gave me goose bumps, remembering carnage from Hard Grit.
Quality camera work, grading? - think that's what it's called brilliant.
Psyched to now train and climb hard!

[lagerstarfish]

https://www.epictv.com/media/podcast/reach---a-film-by-david-petts/606068

Enjoying this - I think it's up on Epic TV as a temporary preview.

Bizarre that literally the first day in years I have the southern sandstone guidebook out - plotting a trip tomorrow - a film comes out with some of the best lines being cruised in style.

Thanks Yossarian for Reach film link.
The new gold standard for climbing/bouldering movies.
Matt C - he sets at the climbing wall, what a climbing machine.
Gaia gave me goose bumps, remembering carnage from Hard Grit.
Quality camera work, grading? - think that's what it's called brilliant.
Psyched to now train and climb hard!

I only had time to watch the first 15 mins (and a few skipped bits later on), but yeah, it's great
it did make me think how I couldn't live in London, but I appreciate the scene that those guys have going - interesting to compare and contrast to my scene of mainly pottering about outside with other old people who still aspire to doing things they haven't done before

nice

edit - enthusiasm - that's what comes across

[Yossarian]

It paints a pretty inaccurate view of living in London. If you're considering moving, I'd check out Made in Chelsea and Top Boy - both being far more realistic. I could also introduce you to the Candy brothers who, amongst other things could offer you some spectacular koi fishing facilities in the west end.

[lagerstarfish]

the Candy brothers are too rich to appreciate the glory that is good grit conditions on a day of no work, whereas the thin white climbers in the film fully accept that they are unable to have regular days scuttling around bits of the outdoors hoping to hit on big connies - they can, however, be pretty sure that wherever they do end up, they are in good shape to enjoy it

[miso soup]

Great film, I find it hard to believe nobody told them there's already a classic climbing film called Reach though.

[Wood FT]

And a banging tune from S-Club Clan

[Steve R]

Very pleasantly surprised by the Reach film.  Really enjoyed it.  Was revved up to be rapidly overcome with hate having seen a couple of annoying hype things associated with it a while ago and of course, the fact it's on epic tv,   Totally ill-founded reservations - it was great.  Really nicely paced, pretty varied and some of those long uncut sequences were really well filmed and great to watch.  Bit of Muzak overload for me in places.  And never a fan of those interview bits where people are bigging up the climber currently in the film's spotlight (it's just not British) but generally, thought the talking bits were pretty good too.  Cousins - clearly a total monster but also, that seemingly very rare combination of being that strong and good and still having the desire/motivation to do stuff like solo Gaia.

[bendavison]

I also liked it, but was a bit disappointed with Steve's section. I got very little feel for the route.

[abarro81]

I thought it was generic, a bit boring and cringe worthy...  unlike that lifetime project video which was ace. Reach certainly wasn't a 'new style of climbing movie' or whatever it is it claims to be.

[Three Nine]

I agree it was boring as hell, with the exception of Gaia solo just because I hadn't seen it before. I usually find watching the world's greatest underachiever, Louis Parkinson, entertaining. In this I just got really bored with his unfunny waffle. The Lifetime Proj thing was amazing - a welcome antidote to the hour of bullshit we watched before. 

[petejh]

Tough crowd.

My take - I liked it but... yawn. We're inundated with slick films that took years to gather the content for and months to edit down into hour-long beautiful creations. Behind the nice camerawork the narrative is nearly always the same - (relatively) privileged guys climbing rocks, with almost zero depth behind who they are and where they've come from. And one 8A looks very much like another.. This would have been thought of as amazing 10 years ago but today it just blends in.
 
Instead we get as much if not more enjoyment watching a film about a loon in the backwoods finally doing his lifetime 7c+ proj, filmed from one angle,seemingly on a camera propped up against his shoe.

The solo of Gaia and the comp win were interesting, unusual to see someone with skills that diverse.

[Three Nine]

 
Instead we get as much if not more enjoyment watching a film about a loon in the backwoods finally doing his lifetime 7c+ proj, filmed from one angle,seemingly on a camera propped up against his shoe.

The entertainment value was the parody no? It would have been totally crap if it had really been about someone doing their lifetime proj in the backwoods.

[Teaboy]

Tough crowd.

That's what I thought, the Reach video was really good I thought. Good to find out a bit more about a climber we don't hear that much of (Matt Cousins, I had no idea he'd soloed Gaia), also good to shine a spotlight on the London 'scene' I've always been curious (why do climbers stay there?). Always great to see Malham (but we don't need to attract any more people to it!). The tracking shot of Louis Parkinson on that long boulder problem was not something I remember seeing before, really, really good.

I liked everything about the lifetime project vid, didn't realise it was a parody. I like it less now if that's the case, what was it parodying?

[jfdm]

I thought it was generic, a bit boring and cringe worthy...  unlike that lifetime project video which was ace. Reach certainly wasn't a 'new style of climbing movie' or whatever it is it claims to be.

I agree mostly with Pete on this, which makes a change.
Anything creative like Reach, takes ages to think about, organise, shoot and then edit.
It isn't a five minute job, the fact that you can watch this for nothing amazes me in this day and age.
I am just wondering how generic/boring soloing Gaia actually is and capturing this on film.
abarro - so when is your feature length movie "Kneepad" coming out?
Please incorporate some pyrotechnics alongside the Tom Cruise narration.
Lifetime project was funny, but you cant really compare that to Reach.

[Yossarian]

abarro - so when is your feature length movie "Kneepad" coming out?
Please incorporate some pyrotechnics alongside the Tom Cruise narration.

I'm seeing this more as a slow-burning conceptual sci-fi - the awakening of a sentient kneepad, flashes of sensory feedback as it tries to process being stuffed into cave roofs, etc.

[Wood FT]

I thought it was generic, a bit boring and cringe worthy...  unlike that lifetime project video which was ace. Reach certainly wasn't a 'new style of climbing movie' or whatever it is it claims to be.

I agree mostly with Pete on this, which makes a change.
Anything creative like Reach, takes ages to think about, organise, shoot and then edit.
It isn't a five minute job, the fact that you can watch this for nothing amazes me in this day and age.

All valid points but, and I ask this sincerely, how is Reach 'a new type of climbing film'?

I enjoyed it, I'm very grateful it's available for free, but the hyperbole puts me off. I said something stupid at the start of my video about 'best grit season ever' and have regretted it since. I hope it's just EpicTV influence in this case. Anyway, Matt Cousins segment was a highlight, would've liked to have seen more of Jim Pope - could there be enough footage for some extras? The skate vid style of having individual profiles reminded me of the classic Peak vid Winter Sessions.

Well done to David, thanks for putting the hours in. I bet you were shitting your pants watching him solo Gaia.

Barrows is great on film, really makes a twat of himself in a totally unselfconscious way while trying harder than anyone else I know. If he wants to make 'kneepad' I'm up for it.